The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 42 Duel

Moriarty was met with a resolute look in Tonks' eyes, and so Moriarty and Tonks stood on the stage.

Just like in their dozens of previous battles, they stood ten meters apart and raised their wands.

As he bowed, Tonks smiled and raised his eyebrows: "You can't use the excuse of 'Aurors facing a surprise attack' to launch a sudden attack on me now. This time, I'll strike first."

"Protect the Gods!"

Perhaps because Moriarty always gained the upper hand in previous battles, Tonks was particularly proactive in this duel, with the silver-white rabbit Michelle hopping and skipping through the air as she crashed into Moriarty.

Professor Flitwick shook his head upon seeing this: "Ah, ah, Miss Tonks, I never imagined you could use the Patronus Charm, let alone use your Patronus to run people over? Oh, that's the wrong way to use it."

"It's alright, Professor. She has her reasons for doing this." Moriarty's voice was deep and resonant, full of gentleness.

Professor Flitwick soon learned what Tonks' reason was—parroting—a hissing sound.

As Moriarty spoke in Parseltongue, he gently tapped the stage with the Slytherin staff in his right hand, and a small magic circle appeared, flashing with a silver-green light.

"Ice Serpent Dance!"

Large gusts of wind appeared above the magic circle, making the entire auditorium cold. The wind, mixed with ice and snow, occasionally fell onto the stage.

The students screamed and cleared a large area to avoid being hit by the falling snow, having witnessed the devastation on the stage.

The area where the snow fell was completely frozen, making it impossible to tell that it had once been a stage.

Tonks immediately cast a spell to protect herself from water and fire, and Michelle above her head bounced back and forth to shield her from the falling snow.

"There's still some time before the twelve ice serpents appear, isn't there?" Tonks quickly recovered from the shock of the blizzard and extended her wand: "Petrify them all!"

Moriarty's eyes were deep, and he ignored the incoming spell.

He quickly uttered a series of snake words, and twelve magical pillars of light rapidly rose from the edge of the magic circle, instantly transforming into twelve ice snakes.

The Petrify spell was aimed at one of the ice snakes, but instead of petrifying it, it caused the ice snake to open its mouth wide and flick its tongue.

The ice snakes coiled around the snakes' bodies, their crystalline green eyes sweeping menacingly over the wizards in the hall before finally settling on Tonks.

Two ice snakes pounced with a "whoosh"!

An extreme chill filled the auditorium as the ice snake erupted, freezing the students so badly that their hands and feet turned icy, and they repeatedly retreated, moving away from the stage.

The students who had already gone up to duel were also forced to retreat, as they did not want to be frozen into ice sculptures.

Only William and Leon fought fiercely, both unleashing enhanced versions of their fiery attacks.

Professor Flitwick also enlarged the hundred candles above, making the auditorium seem warmer.

But warmth seemed to be the natural enemy of the ice snakes. The twelve ice snakes opened their mouths and hissed, and a storm of hail and snow fell from the sky!

Tonks's water and fire immunity spell failed, leaving him shivering from the cold. Michelle was locked in a fierce battle with two ice snakes, the soft white light from the CD player dispelling their chill. However, this meant no one was there to shield her from the wind and snow.

"Alright, ordinary spells won't work on you," Tonks said, raising his wand above his head. "Then try this: Weather Charm—Blazing Sun!"

A red sun appeared in the sky above Tonks, bringing sunshine while taking away some of the ice and snow.

Tonks then used a transformation spell on the candles above the auditorium, and a large fiery hand reached out to Moriarty.

Moriarty stood in the center of the magic circle, surrounded by ten ice snakes that easily blocked the fiery hand.

"Nymph, the moment you get soaked to the bone, you should realize you've failed."

Moriarty chanted a spell, and a chill rose from Tonks' feet, freezing Tonks' lower body in the cold.

Tonks waved her wand, breaking the spell, and said dejectedly, "You didn't say your ice serpent also had freezing power."

Moriarty lightly tapped his toe, and the magic circle dissipated. The icy phenomena and ice snakes disappeared, and Tonks regained her freedom of movement. Moriarty stepped forward and pulled her up.

"I am, after all, a wizard, Nymph. I cannot expect my ice serpents to engage in melee combat forever."

"Then I don't count as a loser!" Tonks pouted and muttered, "You saw Michelle's performance. She's a mature rabbit now. Even the two ice snakes couldn't handle her. I'd like to try your Ghost Serpent. Maybe Michelle will give me a surprise."

Moriarty shook his head and smiled. "If you don't want to get sick, go take a shower."

Tonks walked away, touching her wet hair. Moriarty guessed that she wouldn't be so enthusiastic about challenging the Ice Serpent next time.

"Charlie Weasley, it's your turn." Moriarty glanced at where Tonks had been standing, indicating that it was Charlie's turn to come up.

Charlie exhaled a heavy breath, as if he could expel all the negative emotions brought about by the Ice Serpent Dance.

"Come on, Mr. Moriarty!" Charlie puffed out his chest and raised his head, looking just like a knight about to go into battle, except that his pale face made his red hair stand out even more.

Professor Flitwick did not stop the duel; he did not say a word—and everyone watched in silence.

After they bowed to each other, Charlie quickly cast a "super armor" spell on himself.

“Many adult wizards cannot do this,” Moriarty praised. “Charlie, you are stronger than Nymph.”

Charlie gave a strange laugh: "I didn't know you two were so close, although I usually give in to her. You know, charming ladies always enjoy certain privileges."

Charlie was quite quick during the conversation.

"The Bat Spirit Curse!"

This is a poisonous curse that turns the snot of the cursed person into a large black bat that flies out of their nose!

Moriarty's expression changed, as if the Weasleys were particularly adept at casting this spell?

"Armor for protection!" Moriarty waved his wand lightly.

Charlie knew Moriarty wouldn't be easily defeated, and he was prepared: "Sandstorm! Shattering! Obstacles everywhere!"

Faced with three consecutive spells, Moriarty activated his Kara Boots, which increased his movement speed. His leaps resembled tango steps, allowing him to easily dodge the spells while maintaining a graceful movement.

Charlie was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting his spell to be dodged so easily, but soon he pointed his wand at the stage and turned the stage into a swamp!

Moriarty sank rapidly, and before he could make a move, Charlie transformed the candles into fireballs, burning with intense flames, seemingly waiting for something, and refusing to fall.

Charlie, having seized the initiative, grinned broadly. "Mr. Moriarty, I'll give you a chance. I'll let you use your Ice Serpent Dance again. I'll use my best Polymorph to make you admit defeat!"

"Wow, Charlie's actually serious for once!" The little lions whistled and shouted, already celebrating in advance.

Moriarty sank into the swamp from the knees down, but he wasn't panicked. It was impossible for him to use water elemental magic; Charlie and he weren't familiar with each other.

Then Moriarty spoke in an icy tone: "I think I need to correct your misconception. You want to use fire to subdue my ice serpent, but who says there's only one kind of serpent?"

"Yes, and the Ghost Serpent!" Tonks returned at some point, his face radiant.

However, Moriarty didn't use the serpent spell; he was still refining it. He said, word by word, "The dragon emerges from its cave!"

"Bang!"

A black snake flew out of the swamp, and the students' terrified screams seemed to pierce the ceiling.

The black snake was too big and too thick; its head was as big as three Quidditch goalposts. It swallowed more than a dozen fireballs that Charlie had created with Transfiguration in one gulp.

The swamp was also destroyed. Moriarty slowly emerged from the pit. "It's all cleaned up," he said.

Then he pointed his wand at Charlie: "What a coincidence, Charlie. I'm also good at Transfiguration."

The giant snake leaping in the air instantly transformed into black vines, binding Charlie tightly with a few "swish, swish" sounds.

"Crushed to pieces!" Moriarty hadn't forgotten the super-strong armor Charlie had previously applied to protect him.

The invisible shield emitted a weak light, losing its effect. Charlie could do nothing but watch Moriarty wave his wand.

"Disarm you!"

"Snap!" Charlie's wand flew out.

(End of this chapter)